Intergalactic Trouble
by NeoMiniTails
Summary: A girl from another world comes to Earth looking for heroes to stop a great evil who has been destroying worlds. When that person strikes at an event that was meant for the digidestined where Rei and Kurama attend for a school project, the pokemon, digimon, and our world are thrust into intergalactic trouble. Multi-crossover, Naruto, Black Butler, Digimon 02.


**Author's Note: **So I'm doing something I said I would never do: an extremely large crossover.

Claimership: Catsy is my OC. She's from my fictionpress story. Haji is from the same story.

Michi is owned by me also, but created specifically for this story.

Akai is owned by Charmkeeper.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the canon characters in this story. If I did, this wouldn't be a fanfic.

Co-authored with Charmkeeper and TrueBlade Hinata.

**Sailor Moon Note:** This story is based on both the manga and anime. Rei Hino is definitely a mix of both versions and probably a little more of the anime than I usually involve.

_**Prologue Part One**_

**In a Distant Dimension**

That feeling, there it was again, the feeling of agony and impending destruction. The heart of hatred that loomed through the air of that world, the darkness crushing the light with its ever-growing anger, laughing and spitting at the light. This world was full of darkness and the people didn't even know it. With every second, his great power was changing the landscapes and the peoples who lived there. Even to a person who had become accustomed to this sort of thing happening, she felt confused to how these people could keep living in their perfect, little lives while she fought in the shadows, protecting them.

Still, she could feel her power weakening, unable to force him back. Her mind felt jumbled and her spirit weeped - her very soul felt broke.

Something was very wrong and right now, she couldn't see it without leaving the confines of spaces.

Teleporting into the world, she could feel her heart beating faster, it felt like it burst inside her. Something was going on and she had a feeling that her powers wouldn't be enough to stop it.

The world had been attacked.

Without her there, the world had been attacked and every life force had been taken away, everything that she protected up to the point had been destroyed.

Wings sprouted out her back and she flew into the world, her eyes scanning for any life, hoping that she could find the child that she had given hope that everything would be okay. The child that she lied to, she had to find that little girl.

It took maybe hours, maybe even days, until the girl found the person she was looking for.

The child looked back at her, eyes vacant, and hands shaky, a bloody knife in her hands.

"Little one, I found you! You're ali—"

"You left me!" The little girl interrupted her, looking down, holding the knife tightly. "You left me-you said that you'd protect us and you left me!"

Wing sunken, the protector came down, her eyes sad and heart drenched in tears. If only the little girl could understand what she felt. "Nariko-chan, I'm sorry… I had to find a way to protect more of your world. This was the most effe—"

"Shut up!" The girl screamed, her eyes glowing. "The Dark Knight was right about you and everyone else!" Nariko screamed as she ran forward, the knife aiming for the protector. "Catsy, you left me and so I had to ask him for help. He said that if I killed this world that you'd come for me…. And I did it. I killed everyone. I was given the power to spread the darkness that his master asked to spread and I used it to kill everyone, give him their life! You didn't come though… You made me kill my mama so that I could see you again!"

Catsy's eyes widened. In all honesty, she knew that the Dark Knight would come to this world as he had always done but the problem was that she had never seen him, herself, this person who stood so far against him. It was almost as if he were mocking her, choosing this child to destroy this world.

"I told you to stay away from him. I told you-" She paused, feeling the overwhelming darkness coming out her soul, the little girl's eyes turning red as she started to scream.

"Please… Nariko-chan, grab my hand. I'm sure that I can heal you of this darkness and I can find another world where you can live peacefully… Please!"

Nariko's scream became louder as she held her head, the darkness coming out at an alarming rate until suddenly her body was sucked into the world.

Catsy had seen this happen before and everytime, she felt the same feeling. It was the feeling of hopelessness. She, the Guardian of Hope, felt hopeless as she reached out and grabbed onto Nariko's hand, hoping to reverse the process.

"Catsy… you fool!" The little girl cried out, her eyes normal and a light brown, tears running down. "You have to leave. Please protect the next worlds…"

Catsy held onto to her hand with one hand and her wrist with the other, trying with all her might to keep her from falling into the core for the world's ultimate destruction. "No… I'm not letting go.."

"Idiot… it's already too late. The Dark Knight told me to tell you that he will be heading to Earth… a planet much like mine, a place where there is hope and light unlike my own world. Please save that world. That world deserves saving!"

Nariko's body slipped out her hands and fell into the world. The "Ultimate Destruction" would begin now. This entire world would be destroyed.

Not allowing a tear slip from her eyes, she teleported away, tracing her aura onto the Earth.

She didn't know where she'd go but one thing was for sure, there was no way that she could allow The dark Knight or his master have his way.

**Earth**

**Human World**

Akai sat still. Very still.

The cool breeze hit her face as she stared out over the neighborhood she'd taken up temporary residence in. It was a nice day out, and she could hear people walking, talking, laughing, enjoying themselves. So many people who just lived their lives as though nothing were wrong, and perhaps to them, nothing was. Akai was not like that. To the young looking woman, there was always something, lurking in the shadows, just waiting to strike.

There had been nothing for almost a month now, and it had been making her skin crawl. Normal? What was normal? She'd had to live it, "normally" without any jobs to do. Cooking, cleaning, eating, sleeping, they were all "normal" things, but the routine set up in the last month...it was wrong, that had never been how she had lived. When people saw her walking by and said 'hello,' it made her jump, as though they had only gotten her attention to start a fight, but nothing like that had happened for some time. Peaceful. It didn't exist, there was only calm before the storm.

Akai believed the storm was finally coming.

She couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something there, something different, something off. It was that word on the tip of your tongue. She knew the word existed but couldn't quite reach it. Power. She knew it had to be about that. It was always about power, or money, but money was really just about power, anyway. She watched then meditated then watched again, but it seemed like nothing was showing up, but it would. It would. It was just a matter of time. If it didn't come today, she'd come and wait again tomorrow.

Why? Because the moment she didn't watch, would be the moment it would come. That was how life worked. When you expected it, it didn't come, but when you don't, it does.

A bird landed near the woman, making light chirping noises and pecking around for food. It was too close.

Akai awkwardly sat still, unsure what to do next.

Lightly, she bit her lip, frowning, and turned her head to look at it. "You know, foxes will eat birds," she said softly, but, if the bird heard her, it ignored her, at least, until she struck out and grabbed for it, purposely missing it just by an inch, Akai didn't want the distraction.

She was waiting, and her patience was growing terribly thin.

"Morning, you." Catsy said with a smile on her face, her gentle tone carried through the wind and to the other female.

Without warning, the voice shattered her concentration, a sweet mezzo-soprano voice. Akai startled a little at the voice behind her, and bent her head back to look. There was a girl there, above her! She was there, but it seemed nearly impossible, Akai knew she had good senses, knew that she should be able to sense this young woman...but she couldn't. "...Morning..." she replied quietly, bewildered. Where had she come from?

Catsy jumped down from the higher ledge she had been watching Akai for some time and landed in front of the water youma. "My first week here in this world, and I already meet someone like you... either the God of this world has blessed me or I'm a very lucky girl!" A giggle escape her mouth as she she jumped over Akai in a very cat-like motion, landing on her feet.

"What do you mean someone like me?" Akai narrowed her eyes at the pretty girl.

"Are you one of the ones that I've sent visions of the future to?" She asked.

Akai frowned. Now, the girl was avoiding the answer and asking another question. She wasn't the only that could that.

The pretty girl's strangely colored eyes narrowed slightly. "Akai-san, that is your name, correct? And your tongue is Japanese or would you prefer me to speak in your native tongue?" She sat on the ledge and rested her chin on her fist with a devilishly quaint smile. Despite the curvature of her lips, Akai was sure there was more to her because despite Akai attempts, she couldn't read the woman before her.

She didn't consider herself all that special, but the way she spoke made it sound like she was, she even knew her name!

She frowned, not liking how much this girl, a girl she'd never met before, knew about her. It could definitely lead to bad things. "Akai is correct, and Japanese is fine. Who are you, and how do you know me?" Unfortunately, answering questions with a question wasn't one of Akai's gifts.

Aki hadn't even mentioned about the visions yet; there were too many strange things about this girl. First thing's first.. why the heck was she getting goosebumps from this girl? Those strange thoughts in her head about a horrific future, was she claiming that she sent her those ideas? Akai pouted; she was sure that was only her paranoia getting to her, not some crazy girl who caused that.

She was paranoid by nature so normality bothered her, not some visions sent by some red-haired model with cat ears on the top of her head that looked like a headband. She was sure of it. It was just her paranoia.

She definitely imagined horrible things in the future recently, but that was just her paranoia getting to her, she knew it was. Too much normal.

And now it was getting very abnormal, very fast.

Bewildered eyes stared back at Akai, a smile still on the pretty red-headed girl's face. "I am Wildfire Catsy." She answered her first question as if it were obvious and she were dumb to ask such a question.

Akai frowned. Oh yes, this was all very odd indeed. The young woman introduced herself as Wildfire Catsy, not a Japanese name at all. Was she trying to stand out? Akai looked to the right, watching the cars go by, the humans going on about their lives; she was uncomfortable with the idea of something wanting to be special, wanting to be set apart. She had spent her entire life in hiding, pretending to be something she was not.

"And by someone like you, I mean, someone who is also considered strange in this world… someone who, like me, is afraid to show their real self to the rest of the world and yet, with a pure heart, you desire to protect it, do you not?"

What did she know about her? That woman couldn't possibly understand her fear and also love for this world! Akai shifted in her position. "I would not call myself pure of heart," she said in all seriousness.

As if reading her mind, Catsy's eyes narrowed. "I don't go by this world's standards of purity, there are too many, in this world, who are like you-living in the shadows, afraid because of the people who live here. There are also those of your species who are heroes, saving this world from all kinds of problems."

She was, after all, a demon. It was quite a strange person who would accuse a demon of having truly good intentions. Yet, after she paused to let that statement sink in, she admitted, "But I don't want anything bad to happen to this world."

Her strange colored eyes began to glow and her face became serious. "I need you to help me find warriors who could help me save this world and any world that is connected to it. I know that there is another world that had been separated from the Earth in it's earlier stages and then like every other world, if these worlds were tampered with, that'll allow the darkness to enter into the middle world, or as I call it, "the mirror world." Once , in that world, this and every world connected to it would fall in the ultimate destruction."

Akai looked away, watching the child with his mother across the street, her body suddenly feeling weak and mouth went dry. Had she really been so right? Was something really big actually coming?

The girl smiled grimly. "Sadly, I haven't saved very many worlds from that happening since it seems like my enemy is always one step ahead of me and always making friends. This time, I met you so it must mean that I need to change my strategy."

"It is said that the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results." The brunette said simply, "So, if what you've been doing hasn't been working...then yes. It is time to change your strategy," although Akai could honestly not really see where she would be able to help. She was only one person, and was honestly not the most powerful demon around anyway. What could she truly do? Yet this Catsy was asking for her help, and she could not say no to that.

"What should we do?" Akai practically whispered softly into the air as she looked up to the heavens in thought.

Catsy smiled slightly. She may really have been insane to have kept on fighting by herself, not wanting others to get involved. To be honest, there used to be four more people much like her that used to fight alongside her but now it was only her left, the knight of hope. Sadly, most of the things that they sacrificed their lives for, it had been for nothing. When they all had been killed, she had given up, no longer wanting to live until she met that little girl in that other world, that little girl with bright eyes, hoping and dreaming for a future where they could all be happy.

Even now, when she thought about that same little girl falling to the darkness, it took every bit of strength in her to not lay down and wait to die. "For now, my abilities to sense power is very weak, it took almost all my strength to get here from the other dimension. We will need to gather warriors together and find a way before the Knight of Darkness makes his strike. I'm sure he's already started... moving by now."

Usagi danced around Rei and the other senshi, bragging about how she could meet the world famous Digimon Tamers, a group of teens who happened to save the world a few years ago back, that's what the news called them.

Ami smiled gently. "They call themselves the Digidestined, don't they?"

Minako frowned, unimpressed. "Yeah... so what?! They never invited Sailor V to a national television, talking about how thankful they are to have her around so I'm not going to watch it!" The truth was she felt embittered by the whole idea. They saved the world plenty of times, often the entire solar system, and here comes these kids with little monsters (when the sailor senshi weren't around) and suddenly they become the biggest thing on TV.

Makoto flipped through a magazine. "There's a guy named Yamato whose pretty cute though... I wouldn't mind meeting him! Is it a ticket for two, Usagi-chan?"

Rei closed her eyes and frowned. "Gomen nassai. I got the tickets, and it was only for two so I invited her since she came with me in the first place."

Holding up her own ticket, Ami smiled gingerly. "I'll be going too... I have backstage passes." The blue-haired girl couldn't hide that she was secretly someone whom easily became a fan of anything that was worth reading about in the paper. The girl kept her exterior of an ultra-serious nerd who only thought about studying and going to college however Rei knew better, that girl was easily the type to become a big fangirl before even Minako, having done so more than once.

Rei wasn't sure if anyone else noticed it, but she sure did. This wouldn't be the first time that she just happened to want to go to something so-so-unfit for her character. "No wonder you've been saving your money..." Rei said quietly, her tone slightly excited and also a bit prying.

Ami's face turned red. "Oh no... it's not that... I just..."

Rei winked then smiled, letting it go. She already knew.

Rei couldn't tell everyone that she actually had three tickets in her possession. They would've questioned her, and begged for an answer. Of course, she would have refused them an answer but even later, when she would have probably forgotten the entire situation, they would probably bring it up, being even more annoying than usual.

She walked the streets alone in an area where very few girls like her should be caught walking.

People stared at her strangely, many admiring her beauty, some seeing something more-and that more, she didn't want to find out.

She was used to that sort of attention but even so, it still made her nervous. Speeding up her pace, she typed in a phone number into her cell and pressed call to make sure that she didn't waste her time coming all this way.

"Pick up… pick up… pick up… Minamino-san, pick up!" She kept mumbling over and over as if she had been practicing a mantra. In a way, she hoped she looked crazy so that no one would bother her then something hit her, she forgot where he lived.

It was this neighborhood, she was sure, but which house… or was it an apartment nearby? She had only been there less than a handful of times, all for a program that her school and his school were involved in. It was called "Honor Student Exchange."

She chose him to be her "H.S.E" only because the females in her school whom were on honor roll had to choose a male student from the other school in hope that the two would encourage one another, see the world in each other's eyes, and hopefully create great relations for future business in the world. Very few people actually did what the school hoped, most of the girls in her private school chose the male student for one reason only: looks… and, er, many Catholic schoolgirls weren't that innocent.

She chose him because when the males were forced to come visit the school (most already having been chosen), she waited until the day that he was physically in the school then chose him because like her, he had nothing to do with this, well, that's what she assumed. He looked like a man with secrets, mysterious and unlike the other guys there, he seemed least interested.

His seeming disinterested, in her opinion, made her interested.

Most people treated HSE as a marriage experiment but they didn't. They kept a certain distance and never asked personal questions; their secrets were safe and sound inside their own hearts. He seemed to understand what she already did, secrets were made to be kept, not shared.

"Pick up… pick up… pick up… Minamino-san, pick up!"

It was, in a way, almost eerie how quiet it had been lately, just quiet enough to make the hair on the back of Kurama's neck stand up when he thought about it. It was that kind of quiet that whispered at something more, something more was coming, and it would be big. For the meanwhile though, Kurama didn't mind it in the least, the quiet. It allowed him to let that part of his life fade a bit, as he had somewhat wanted it to since he'd been ten. It allowed him to start thinking of himself less often as "Kurama" and more often as "Shuichi."

He liked the life he lived as Shuichi. He loved his mother, and he was coming to love the man that would become his stepfather, and that man's son as well. He liked the simple, yet somehow complex trials of school and socialization, and he liked the drama that other teenagers often inflicted upon themselves. He liked all that. He liked having to do homework, and having to know all the trends...and he liked knowing that there were other people around who were doing things to "save the world" and that they had eyes on them far more often than eyes were on him.

Currently, his mother was out, she'd had work today, and had a date with her now fiance. She wouldn't be back until later, and that suited him fine. All Shuichi was doing was homework. He was doing it lazily, in fact, letting his fingers play with the tips of his hair as he pretended to deliberate over the answer to the question. Science was his best subject, he didn't much need to think about it, so he could take his time. When he was done with this, he'd make himself something to eat, and then probably read ahead a chapter in each subject until his mother got home. That sounded pleasant.

The phone rang and Shuichi got to his feet. He wondered who it could be. It wasn't the family phone, it was his, the one his mother had given him so he could contact her if need be. Not many people had the number, Yusuke, Kuwabara...and a few people from school who might need to contact him. He took it from the pocket in his bag and looked at the ID as it rung again. Hino Rei, it read. It surprised him a little, that name, over all the other possibilities. They saw little of each other, and they had a very simple understanding of one another "don't ask, don't tell." If she were calling, it must have been important.

He clicked "accept" and then put the phone to his ear. "Hello?" He said immediately, and then fell silent, waiting for the words on the other end.

It was strange. When Shuichi answered, Rei's heart sped up. This was something that happened on rare occasions, in fact, she could say this was the first time. Nervousness wrapped over her tongue, and she understood why, it was her first time talking to a guy on the phone on her own initiative. To be honest, males, in general, made her nervous; she was never quite sure what to say and she should say it in order not to come off as rude.

"Good afternoon, Minamino-san," she placed the phone on her cheek as she continued walking, twiddling her thumbs. "Since part of the HSE is for us to do a study on human relations, my father..." She hated mentioning that man and although her tone came off as kindly when speaking of him, her heart felt much differently. "He suggested that I take you and a friend to a live national interview, the ones about the digimon tamers who defeated some big monster a few years ago."

She paused for a moment. It felt as if she were asking him on a date and for one moment, she wondered if this was how most guys felt when they came up to her, professing their feelings-only to be kindly rejected. Her face turned red as she stopped on her heel and leaned against the wall, momentarily mentally exhausted. Although this wasn't a date, she hoped that he wouldn't reject her, that would be the worst.

"If you want to go, I mean, I can drop it off at your house and I can meet you there..." Her voice trailed off as she looked down, her own shyness (that she hid very well from the other senshi, the only two of the inner senshi whom knew it were Ami and Minako) taking over. "If not, that's fine... we can do this part of the HSE work another day..."

It would fun to go somewhere like that though especially since her father was paying for the dinner afterwards... with three tickets meant originally for her, and her father, and his assistant, Kaidou. Strange, when she thought about it, it would be her first year, on her birthday, that her father and Kaidou had nothing planned for her and she would be going somewhere on her own, inviting two people without letting either know that it'll be on her birthday.

To be honest, this made her quite sad when she thought about it. April 17th was around the corner, and for the first time, her father made it clearly known, in front of Usagi, that he had no intention of spending it with her. "So what do you think, are you interested?" Her voice smooth and natural, unlike her own thoughts.

As Rei began to talk, Shuichi began to smile. It was just a small smile at first, but then, the more she spoke, the more he smiled. Her tone gave her away; the longer she spoke to him, the more shy she sounded. It wasn't that he wanted to laugh at her, not really, but it was amusing to him. Hino Rei had chosen him from all the other students that had come with him from his school. She was smart, confident, and always a little suspicious, never shy. Shuichi hadn't thought she could be shy yet here he was, listening to a bit of shyness. It was a shame, that all her nervousness was for naught.

"That sounds perfect, actually." It really did. What was more perfect for that part of their assignment then going to such a thing, these "Digidestined" weren't just human interaction, they were interaction with...whatever it was that lay in the world they'd gone to. It was very nearly ideal. "I'd love to go." Not just for the assignment either, finding information about these teens was important too. Yes. Very nearly ideal.

As for how it would happen. "Whatever is ideal for you, Hino-san. You're the one inviting me, it's your choice." Whether she wanted to just drop the ticket off and they'd meet there, or if she wanted to pick him up, or vise versa, these were all things that were fine with him. He was really quite flexible, he'd always had to be.

When he spoke, Rei felt warmth come over her, the same warmth she felt whenever she was with Usagi. It was the odd feeling that she enjoyed when she felt like a person allowed her to show a side of herself that she tried so hard to hide from everyone else. It was frustrating yet it made her just a bit happy.

Still, it was unnerving to feel as if someone's aura could have the much power over her. Sometimes she wondered if even with their silent agreement of never asking unnecessary questions if he knew more about her than she knew about herself.

Moments like this, she wasn't sure if she cared deeply or hated both Minamino-san and Usagi.

Heart slowed down, and her breathing normal, she almost allowed herself to tell him that she'd pick him up because of some crap lie about how far his house had been from her home even though she was in his neighborhood, in fact, she didn't know it but she was a house away from being across the street from his home.

"Actually…" The nervous-ness lifted slightly as she frowned just a bit, feeling annoyed that he had given her the options of what to do next. Why couldn't he be a control freak? The thought went in and out as fast as it came, the idea almost made her mentally laugh at her own shyness. "I'm not too far from you…" She stated, looking around, trying to figure out where she actually was.

"Oh, are you?" Shuichi asked, automatically closing his eyes for a moment and nodding, realizing that, yes, he could feel her aura somewhere nearby. He hadn't even thought to try and sense her until now, he hadn't needed to sense for anyone recently.

Rei continued, "Since I had to do some shopping over in this side of town," the lie slipped out and even she couldn't cover that one up but continued to say, "I can't remember your address so if you give it to me, I'll be right over. We can go together though… My father is sending us a limousine for the event."

She was certainly in the area but...Shuichi knew a lie when he heard one, but that was all right, it was a harmless lie, and there was no need to call her out on it. "Well, it was smart of you to call me while you were in the area." The other teenager continued onto say that she couldn't remember his address, and that they could go together.

Almost immediately after saying that, she flashed back on meeting his mother, the woman who believed the two were secretly dating, always smiling when she saw her. Rei wondered how her mother would act upon meeting Minamino-san, and if she'd have embarrassed her with something like that.

"So are you home right now?"

The redhead made his way over to the window and moved back the curtains. Could he...? Yes. He could see her, my, she really was close, so close, yet so far, to forget where he lived like this. Didn't she know? His house was the one with the tree and well kept garden out front. He smiled a bit wider, though he kept his lips pressed firmly together until he spoke. "I am home, actually, and are you sure you forgot where I live? Because you are very close." He moved away from the window. "Hold on."

A smirk came upon his face. He could clearly see a confused raven-haired girl, looking around and much less composed than he was used to seeing her. He could shout and scare her just to see her reaction, but he decided that would just be cruel.

Shuichi made his way to the front door and simply opened it to step out onto the front porch. He waved his arm to get her attention, rather than put the phone back up to his ear, and once he'd gotten it, he motioned for her to come on over.

If a person could die from embarrassment, Rei would have been the first victim. Her face beet red, her eyes caught his waving hand (not too far away), and the problem wasn't that she had no groceries in her hand to keep the lie up.

Taking a breath, she heaved a sigh then made a bee-line for Minamino-san's house, avoiding his eyes for the most part until she made the mistake of looking at him and seeing that all-knowing smile, the silent smile that she had felt through the phone. She froze, seeing that smile, part of her wanting to slap him (for no real reason besides being caught in a lie), and the other part wishing that she was wrong.

She had seen that smile many-a-times, and every time, she felt just slightly pissed and the other part, she wasn't quite sure what it was but it made her heart beat much faster-and she didn't like that feeling very much.

"My mother isn't home," he admitted as she approached, "But I really don't think she'd mind if she knew you had come over." No, his mother was the perfect mother, so motherly and loving toward everyone. She didn't look down on any of his friends, and she'd even met Yusuke once or twice.

She heard him say something about his mother not being home, but his tone was kind and assuring rather than the voice of someone trying to get rid of her. It was probably that voice, she decided, that she couldn't come to dislike him.

Even so, she wanted to say something sly, something cool, something they' d say in a movie in order to make him feel as uncool as she felt being around him and now that she thought about it, she was sure that he'd seen plenty of her bad sides but she had never once seen his bad side.

Instead, she just said, "Thank you, Minamino-san."

She had planned on seeing his mother in actuality though she didn't say that to him. It was a bad habit of her's to often want to see mothers in action. Since her mother died at a young age, she never had the joy of having one and since she probably would never get married, she'd probably never enjoy the joys of being a mother so it was her personal, secret goal to suck in as many memories of good mothers as she could while she was young.

Walking into the house, she took off her shoes and put on the in-house slippers before taking a quick glance at Minamino-san with a smile on her face. "You know, if I were some other girl in my school, I'd probably take advantage of you with your mother being gone." She laughed at her own inappropriate joke, her take at trying to embarrass him, finally deciding on what to say although when she thought about it, herself, she found her own self blushing again from embarrassment.

The grin on his face widened even more when his project partner made a quip about what other girls would do. He couldn't help it. It wasn't even the hidden compliment, it was the person who said it. This wasn't normally how Rei acted. She was really very nervous, and he liked that, it somehow made her seem more... human.

In a way, she realized, she just admitted that she thought he was hot aloud-something she hadn't admitted to herself yet.

"Forget about that joke…" She quickly dismissed her own joke then handed him the ticket.

He'd already had a response to the statement, something about not letting such girls into his home anyway, when she spoke again. He nodded. "Consider it forgotten," the redhead said with a straight face. He would say it was forgotten, but it would truly linger about in his mind for some time, amusing him. All he could really do was remember to not mention it again.

"Anyways, they're backstage passes also so we get to talk to them ourselves if we choose to and get information about the digimon and all that cool stuff." Trying to change the subject, she found herself just talking.

Shuichi took the ticket from her and inspected it, not that he thought it was in any way fake, but simply wanting to see all its fine details, though, really, it looked like a regular ticket for the most part. "As I said on the phone, that sounds ideal." Even when he was playing the part of the demon, he wasn't a particularly pushy person, preferring to be much more subtle, unless the situation called for haste, or coercion, but, if need be, or if the opportunity presented himself, he would certainly take advantage of this exclusive access.

It was funny because up until that moment, she barely recognized how low her social skills were and now in front of him, every single bad social skill came out. She bowed her head apologetically, "I'm sorry… if I'm being really annoying right now."

"Hm? No." Shuichi frowned now, her shyness quickly taking a nosedive down from amusing, considering how she normally was, to almost worrisome. "Believe me, Hino-san, if I thought you were being annoying, there would be no question in your mind about it. I don't suffer annoying, and I'm not suffering you at all. After all, you've handed me something to look forward to, and a check mark on our to do list."

He smiled down at her reassuringly, and pocketed the ticket. "Now, since you came all the way out here, is there something I can get you? A drink? Food? My couch to sit on for a little while?" It was right to be hospitable, and since she was the guest, she could have almost anything she asked for.

Rei watched him inspect the ticket with slightly critical eyes though she made sure to be much more sly with it than she had been about her shyness.

She smiled slightly at his reassuring her that she hadn't been annoying and then opened her mouth to respond to his question but before she could, her eyes widened in shock as she saw an ugly red-headed male running towards the door with a goofy smile on his lips.

"KURAMA! KURAMA!" The man yelled as he jumped through the door, slamming the door into the handsome male as if he were escaping some kind of fire. "Yo what's up!?" The guy asked immediately when he entered the house, removed his shoes, and somehow was already at the refrigerator door all in one motion.

Just as Rei went to answer his question, he heard his name being called. It wasn't the name Rei knew, the name most people knew, Shuichi, no, he heard the other name. The name he tried to keep secret. He heard Kurama. He locked his jaw, knowing who the voice belonged to, and braced for the impact that came only a second later. The door hit him, though he could have easily avoided it, and Kuwabara made his way into his house minus knocking or any sense of normalcy at all. The redhead watched at the other male made his way to his fridge, and made no move to stop him as he went to make himself something to eat. What would be the point? The damage was already done.

The beautiful priestess almost laughed at seeing the male although she had originally been quite afraid. One part of her hoped that he wasn't Minamino-san's brother, the poor guy would have to deal with being constantly being compared to his better looking brother.

"Is your nickname Kurama?" Rei asked, the name certainly suiting him, forgetting about his original question. She could see him being a sly fox with nine tails; it wasn't far from her imagination. In a way, he reminded her of folktales about foxes and their cool attitudes, always thinking ahead.

The reincarnated demon smiled a little at Rei's question, purposely making his face as sheepish as he could. "Yes, a little bit of one," he said. He always said Kurama was a nickname whenever Kuwabara called him that in public, which was often, as it seemed that Kuwabara couldn't remember Shuichi, no matter how many times he told him...but he couldn't get angry, if he got angry, then Rei would know something was off. "It's the hair," he said with a light chuckle, knowing Rei probably knew what was once believed of those born with red hair. "I can't hold that against them." He glanced over at Kuwabara for a moment, wondering what could have possibly been so important...considering he was now making no haste at all. It annoyed him a little, but only a little.

One thing was for certain, her father would have a field day with him, making him into the next politician. He certainly was made for politics, and women would always stand by his side.

Kuwabara finally looked back, noticing the pretty girl that he had rushed past. "Whoa… cute!" he tried to whisper to himself but it still came off as loud, "Must be Kurama's girlfriend."

Rei's phone vibrated and she quickly took a look at it, reading it moderately low aloud. "Looks like we'll have a companion to go with us." She showed Minamino-san her phone, her normal demeanor completely back, completely due to the entrance of a stranger. "His name is Espirito Haji. Apparently, he's sixteen but already works in the government sector… it's a bit weird if you ask me. I've met him once, he was charming and very handsome but something about him made me uneasy."

The redhead leaned over a little to both look at the phone and listen to Rei's words. So they were to have a companion, were they? Fine. That bothered him none, it was just...the name. So foreign. It simply didn't fit with Japanese politics. "Maybe there's some stock in your unease, Hino-san. Looks may be fine, but looks are often deceiving." How incredibly true the old human saying really was...

Kuwabara listened to them talk as he made himself a sandwich as if he'd been to Kurama's house a thousand times and was a regular welcomed guest when in reality, this may've only been his second and third time. When Kurama's mom had said to make himself at him, Kuwabara took it literally.

Now that Kuwabara looked at her and focused on her, he could see her aura. It was very different from normal people and also from Hiei and Kurama, what was she? For a moment, he wondered if she were a true, on-hand priestess with powers like the kind he saw in the anime that he watched but that seemed highly far-fetched especially since she didn't seem tense at all around Kurama.

With a sharp glance, Rei looked back at Kuwabara. "Reading my aura?" She whispered to herself, her eyes warning him to stop.

It took Kuwabara a moment to notice her glare but quickly stopped what he was doing.

"Kuwabara-kun," Kurama said with a smile. "This is Hino Rei-san, she is my partner in a projects our respective schools partake in." He paused for just a moment before his continued on, his emerald eyes still on his comrade. "Now, wouldn't you like to introduce yourself to her?" The smile on his face was not quite the normal one he possessed.

There was just something slightly sour, or almost even threatening about it. Rei had wondered if she'd been annoying to him, and his answer had been no, but if you could tell, he was annoyed now. It didn't bother him that Kuwabara was here, in fact, unlike Hiei, Kurama very much enjoyed the human's company, but the timing, and the manners, and the haste that had just halted...they simply did not sit well with him.

**Author's Note:**

_Thanks for reading. In the next chapter, the Pokemon and Digimon side of the story will be introduced and more of the mysterious Catsy and the water youma, Akai. Rei and Kurama goodness..._

_Please review and tell me what you think._

_This is part one of the prologue._


End file.
